


This Is Not The End

by yunmei97



Category: Harry Styles - Fandom, Louis Tomlinson - Fandom, One Direction (Band), liam payne - Fandom, niall horan - Fandom, zayn malik - Fandom
Genre: Best Friends, Falling In Love, Happy Ending, Love at First Sight, M/M, OT5 Feels (One Direction), OT5 Fluff (One Direction), OT5 Friendship (One Direction), One Direction Hiatus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:27:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29012796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yunmei97/pseuds/yunmei97
Summary: “What the fuck are you talking about? What do you mean Zayn is leaving the band? Zayn??” Louis thundered, standing up from his seat and slamming his fists on the table in front of him. All eyes were on Zayn and Zayn shifts uncomfortably.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Larry Stylinson, Louis Tomlinson/Harry Styles
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> HI! I'm Yun :) I'm just a girl who had an idea for a fan fiction and just started writing. This is all fiction (except One Direction— they are the realest thing I have ever known) and I love Louis, Harry, Zayn, Liam, and Niall with everything in me. This is the first time I have managed to properly write a fan fiction so please, be kind and leave comments :)

Louis is not sure how they ended up here. This was everything that they had wanted in the beginning. Everything. But things got so fucked up, so fast. One second, they were kids who had a dream and the next second, they were stripped of their freedom. Their lives aren’t real anymore. They are all forced to play a role, play a character. They had to be the best actors possible. Sure, Louis can do that. He dabbled in acting during his school days. But how do you pretend not to love someone? How can you pretend that someone isn’t your everything? That the man with unruly curls and captivating green eyes doesn’t consume your whole being, your every thought, and haunt your dreams. Louis is currently in bed, with Harry wrapped in his arms and he is watching Harry while he sleeps. His eyes are closed, little snores emit from his mouth in small puffs, a bit of drool is collecting on the side of his lips, and his hair is all over the place and going in all directions, and yet, Harry is still the most beautiful person he has ever laid eyes on.

“Louis? How long have you been up?” Harry asks, in his deep morning voice and snaps Louis out of his thoughts.

“Not long, love. Go back to sleep,” Louis says, while he gently pushes Harry’s curls away from his eyes. It’s only 7:00am and Louis wants Harry to get some more rest. They had a long day of interviews yesterday.

“Okay,” Harry says softly, before he lets sleep consume him once again. Louis wishes he could fall asleep like that, but sleep doesn’t come as easily to Louis. They have a meeting with management later in the afternoon, and apparently, they have a big announcement to make, and that is never good news. It’s always more and more stunts. More lying, more pretending. Trepidation takes its course in Louis’s body. He knows there is no point in stressing about it because he is just going to drive himself crazy. He knows that whatever management has planned is going to happen no matter what. They signed a contract with the devil. A contract that lasts a whole decade. A whole decade of their lives dedicated to a fake image. A whole decade of their lives stripped from them. Just the thought of that enrages Louis. He can’t be out with Harry or be seen with Harry at all, and he has to keep his distance in the public eye. They had broken up a few times because of the pressure but it never lasted because they could never bear to be apart for long. It’s almost as if they had a magnetic pull to one another. Every time they are in a room together, they can’t help but gravitate towards each other, and even the smallest touch can appease one another. This kind of connection, this kind of love is the kind that you read about in fairytales. You can even call them soulmates, but that doesn’t even do justice to where they begin and end, because they are so much more. Because there isn’t a world where Louis and Harry aren’t meant to be. He knew that from the first moment they met. He would love Harry for the rest of his life. He knew it. He can’t imagine a world where he doesn’t love this man. They were too young and naïve to know better than to sign away their lives, and to that end, they didn’t even know they were signing away their lives.

Louis closes his eyes and tries to shake off the feeling. It takes him a bit but he just manages to fall asleep for an hour, before he is up again and decides to make breakfast for Harry. He slowly and carefully slips out from under Harry. He bends down a bit to softly caress Harry’s cheek and give him a soft kiss on his forehead, before he heads to the bathroom to wash up. Louis takes a look in the mirror and cringes. His hair is a mess and the bags under his eyes are huge. He can tell that he has lost a bit of weight. His face looks slimmer and his cheekbones are a bit sharper. They have been pushed beyond their limits lately. Their days are booked with interviews and various promo. Louis quickly washes the sleep off his face and heads to the kitchen to make breakfast. Out of the both of them, Harry is the cook, but Louis can manage the bare minimum. He can make a proper English breakfast. So that’s exactly what he does. He fries up some eggs, sausages, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, and bread. In the midst of frying the eggs, Louis feels arms around his waist and a kiss to the back of his head.

“Good morning, boo,” Harry announces his presence, sleepily.

“Good morning, love,” Louis replies, as Harry presses his chin onto Louis’s right shoulder.

“Food smells good. I’m going to make some tea for us,” Harry says, and grabs the kettle to fill with water.

“How did you sleep?” Harry asks, as he fills the kettle.

“Not too bad. I was kind of worried about the meeting later,” Louis shrugs, as he finishes cooking and places the food on two separate plates on the kitchen table.

“Lou, you know we can’t control what happens. It’s just inevitable. We can’t do anything. You shouldn’t think too much about it. You know whatever happens, you will always have me and the boys,” Harry says, reassuringly, as they both sit down and dig in to the food.

“Yeah, I know,” Louis sighs. How did things get like this? He would have never imagined in a million years that his life would turn out like this, but this is the price of fame. They devour their breakfast and tea in silence, with thoughts swarming in their heads.

Their meeting with management is in an hour so they decide to watch some telly to kill some time. They cuddle up on the couch and Louis decides to check his Twitter. He hasn’t been on much lately. He doesn’t have much control over it. Management doesn’t allow him to tweet without permission. He sees the same old tweets from fans telling him to follow them. So, he decidedly, goes to his secret Twitter. Management doesn’t know about the account, only the boys do. He can interact with fans without them knowing it’s him, and it seems easier that way. Louis shows Harry funny tweets every so often, before it was almost time for them to head out to their meeting. Suddenly, Louis is reminded and the trepidation runs through his body again. Harry knows and intertwines his fingers with Louis’s to try to soothe him, and Louis relaxes a bit. Harry and Louis quickly get dressed. Harry is dressed in a black sweatshirt, skin tight black jeans, and his signature boots. Louis throws on an all-black ensemble with a sweatshirt, sweatpants, and sneakers. Paul, their bodyguard, comes to pick them up and when they get to the car, the other boys are already seated in the car. They greet each other with fist bumps and when they take a seat, Harry places his hand on Louis’s thigh to try to comfort him again. They are then on their way to the inevitable. They all break into small conversations, but something seems wrong with Zayn. He is normally quiet, but he seems a lot more quiet than usual, and he looks awfully dejected and his eyes are notably sadder.

“Hey, Zayn. What’s wrong?” Louis asks quietly, as he nudges Zayn’s shoulder with his own. Zayn flinches a bit at the contact.

“Uh, nothing, just tired,” Zayn replies quickly, and looks down. Louis narrows his eyes at Zayn and was about to press Zayn for more, but they had just arrived at their destination. Harry pulls his hand away from Louis’s thigh after giving it a quick squeeze because he knows there will be paparazzi and the smallest touch will be caught and scrutinized, and the Larry rumors will be ensued again and that only ends with more stunts for all of them and that is the last thing they want. They all pool out of the car with cameras flashing every five seconds and head into the building.

They enter the conference room and there were five men in suits sitting around a long, oval table. Liam takes a seat first and they all follow suit.

“What is going on?” Liam is the first to speak up. There was a long silence before one of the men decides to speak up.

“Zayn has decided to leave the band. We will release an official statement tomorrow. The rest of you will continue with the rest of the shows as a foursome,” The room goes quiet, as if it wasn’t quiet enough, before chaos erupts in the room.

“Zayn?? What the fuck?” Harry and Niall shout.

“What?” Liam whispers so softly that it was almost missed.

“What the fuck are you talking about? What do you mean Zayn is leaving the band? Zayn??” Louis thundered, standing up from his seat and slamming his fists on the table in front of him. All eyes were on Zayn and Zayn shifts uncomfortably.

“Yeah, uh, I have decided to leave the band. It was about time that I do my own thing. Yeah, you all know I haven’t been feeling it for a while now,” Zayn replies, not maintaining eye contact, and just staring at his hands in his lap.

“We were in this together. We promised. You promised. What are you going to do now? You are going to do it on your own because you think that you are so much better than us?” Louis shouts, with so much venom in his voice as he towers over Zayn.

“Yeah, I am going to go solo. I’m sorry, boys. But this was bound to happen, right? One Direction can’t last forever. It’s not realistic. I was drowning and I needed an out and I’m getting it,” Zayn leveled.

“Fuck you,” Louis seethed and Zayn looked up and caught Louis’s eyes and flinched at the hostility staring back at him. Louis, unable to be in the same room as Zayn anymore, takes off without a second glance and you can hear a pin drop with how silent the room gets again.

“Zayn… please, don’t do this. Don’t throw away the last five years like they meant nothing. We had good times, didn’t we?” Harry breaks the silence, desperately.

“I’m sorry, mate,” And that’s all it takes for Harry to leave the room and to go find Louis. Harry finds Louis sitting in a stairwell with his head in his hands and he could hear him sobbing quietly.

“Lou,” Harry says softly, as the sight of Louis crying tears at his heart. He knew how close Louis and Zayn had gotten over the past few months. Out of all the boys, besides Harry, he was closest to Zayn. Ever since that video of them smoking a joint together had leaked, they stuck together. Louis and Zayn understood one another on so many levels and they could count on each other.

Harry takes a seat on the stairs with Louis and hugs him tight and that is when Louis lets it all out.

“Why? How could he leave us?” Louis cries.

“I don’t know, Lou. I don’t know,” And with that, Louis cries until his eyes are bloodshot and snot is coming out of his nose and Harry can’t help but cry as well. He can’t stand to see Louis upset because it hurts him as well. He cries for Louis and he cries for Zayn. They never expected this to be a permanent arrangement. They weren’t naïve, but they also didn’t think it would come to an end this soon. One Direction isn’t One Direction without Zayn. They started together and they were supposed to end together. They promised. The moment they realized the true colors of their management, they promised they would always have each other’s backs no matter what, through thick and thin. They were brothers. As the years had gone by, their bonds had just solidified more and more. They had been through so much together that they thought the only way for it to be over is when they were all ready to settle down and get married and have kids and all that. But now that Zayn broke the news that he was leaving, all their plans had shattered and seemingly, the bond they thought they had had shattered as well.

“Boo, let’s go home,” Harry says, as he wipes his eyes with the sleeves of his sweatshirt, and gently lifts Louis’s head up and wipes his eyes and nose with his sleeves as well, and Louis nods. Louis looks like a proper mess but he is still the most breathtaking person in every room. Harry pulls out his phone to text Paul to take them home, but he sees that he has text messages and a few missed calls from Niall and Liam.

**3 messages from Niall**  
_harry? are you okay????????_  
_harry??_  
_please answer!!!!!!!!!!_

**4 messages from Liam**  
_Mate? Are you okay? Have you found Louis?_  
_I’m getting worried here_  
_Please let Niall and I know that you are okay_  
_Niall and I will be waiting in the lobby for you lads._

“Liam and Niall are waiting for us by the lobby,” Harry informs Louis, his voice a little hoarse from crying. Louis nods and they make their way to the lobby. As they approach the lobby, they see that Zayn isn’t with them. It’s just Liam, Niall, and Paul, and they all look visibly upset.

“Where’s Zayn?” Harry inquires, bitterly.

“He left. As soon as you left the room. There was nothing else left to say. He seemed relieved to go,” Liam replies, in a clipped tone.

“Can we go home? I want to go home,” Louis pulls on Harry’s sleeve.

“Of course, boo,” Harry nods.

“Wait, don’t you want to talk about this?” Liam asks, unsure if it is a good idea to part on such a sour note.

“We’ll talk tomorrow. You and Niall can come over to ours tomorrow and we’ll talk,” Harry promises. It’s been a long day and Louis doesn’t seem to be in the mood for company, at all. Harry just wants to take Louis home and cuddle all the sadness out of him. He wants the bright and shiny Louis to make an appearance again. He can tell that the longer they are in One Direction, the more the light in the boy dims. They took away the flamboyant boy he fell in love with and made him unsure of himself and that is something he could never forgive.

Paul drives them to their respective homes in silence, and they part with promises to meet up the next morning. Harry and Louis enter their home and head straight to their bedroom and they just lay in their bed, in each other’s arms, not uttering a word for a few minutes.

“Lou, do you want to talk about it?” As Harry breaks the silence.

“I’m tired, love. Can we talk tomorrow, with Niall and Liam?” Louis asks, as he cuddles closer to Harry.

“Of course, boo,” As Harry pulls Louis impossibly closer. He wants to protect this boy with everything he has. Even though Louis is older, Harry still feels the need to protect him. He hates seeing Louis like this and knowing that there is nothing he can do to make this all better. He remembers the good old days, before things got bad. It all started on the X-Factor when they were put in a band. They had no previous experience in the industry. They knew what they wanted. They wanted to make music and tour the world. It was the whole reason they auditioned for the X-Factor. Once they signed the contract, everything went to shit. They no longer had a say in what they do, in what they say, who they date, who they befriend, and the list is endless. Who knew pursuing your dreams meant signing away your rights and your freedom? Who knew your dreams could turn into your biggest nightmare?

Harry and Louis fell asleep pretty easily that night, considering all the tears they had shed. The next morning, Louis wakes up to someone kissing his face, and opens his eyes to green orbs staring back at him. It is honestly the best way to wake up in the morning. Louis presses his lips against Harry’s, before pulling away and leaning his forehead against his. Then it hits him, the events that had occurred yesterday.

“He left, didn’t he?” Louis’s eyes tear up.

“Yeah, he did. Niall and Liam are coming over in a bit to talk and they are bringing coffee,” Harry informs.

“Okay, let’s go take a shower before they get here,” Louis responds, as he makes his way out of bed and pulls Harry with him. They shed off their clothes on the way to the bathroom and take a quick shower together.

Niall and Liam arrive shortly after with coffee and donuts, and they gather around the dining table.

“So how are you lads holding up?” Liam asks.

“I just don’t understand. I knew Zayn was distant for the past few weeks. I had asked a few times but he always brushed it off and said he was tired,” Niall responds.

“I—I’m not sure. I knew something big was going to happen. I felt it in my bones. I just never thought Zayn would ever leave. I could tell he was pulling away and distant, but it never crossed my mind that he would leave us,” Louis says, while staring blankly at the wall.

“Remember when the band was first formed on the X-Factor and we all said that if it doesn’t work out, we could all go solo after. Then as time went by, I just assumed that would never happen, considering how close we had gotten. You boys are my brothers. I can’t imagine doing this without you guys. Of course, I didn’t think we would do this till the end of time. I just didn’t think it would end this soon. I thought we had a few good years left,” Liam inputs.

“Initially, I think that is what caught us off guard. We didn’t think it would end this soon. It feels like we’re just getting started. I just don’t understand why he didn’t tell us. I thought we were close enough that he could trust us to talk about something like this. He could have told us instead of catching us off guard like this. He wasn’t even the one to tell us. Fucking management had to break the news. Like, what the fuck? After five fucking years, he could have been the one to tell us,” Louis sneers.

“I think he was afraid of how we would react. He was pretty quiet on the car ride over to the office. He knew what was to come and he wasn’t ready to face it. I noticed that he almost seemed reluctant to get out of the car. Like the rest of us were because we knew what was to come wasn’t good. But he knew what was coming,” Liam reasoned.

“It was still a fucking shitty thing to do,” Niall pitches.

“We could have sat down and had a chat and worked it out together,” Harry nods in agreement. Then suddenly, their phones all go off with messages.

“Hey, this reminds me of a scene in Pretty Little Liars,” Niall says and that ensues weird looks from the rest of the boys. The shows that this boy watches on the telly…

They all check their phones and realize it was the statement that management said they would release today.

“After five incredible years Zayn Malik has decided to leave…” Louis stops reading after the first few words.

“Wait, what the fuck?? Did any of you give a statement to management? Because I didn’t,” Liam asks, incredulously.

“No…” They all looked at each other and shook their heads.

“Those aren’t our words. Management must have released the statement without informing us. Zayn’s words don’t sound like him as well,” Liam says, and they all look at each other a bit confused.

“Is it possible that this was a stunt as well?? Zayn barely looked at us in the meeting. He just kept staring at his hands. Did Zayn say anything after we left the room?” Harry inquires.

“Not too many words were exchanged after you guys left. Management just filed out of the room after reminding us again that a statement will be released and for us not to say anything to the press, and Liam and I, were left in the room with Zayn. We just stared at him for a good chunk of time and kept asking him, ‘why?’ and he just kept apologizing and said that he hoped we could still be friends, before he just upped and left,” Niall replied.

“I have been trying to get in contact with Zayn. I have been texting him but he hasn’t been responding to any of my texts,” Liam adds.

“Something seems off. Zayn said that he hopes we could all still be friends but with the way he left things, it hardly seems likely. I think we need to have a proper conversation with Zayn, as well. Without management. It seems unfair that he could leave like this without a proper explanation,” Harry says, determinedly.

“I agreed but Zayn won’t answer my texts, so what are we going to do?” Liam asks.

“We are going over to his flat, and it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t want to see us,” Louis speaks up. They all look at each other and nod their heads in agreement.

“Alright, let’s go,” Niall pipes in and jumps up and they all leave Louis and Harry’s flat and pile into Liam’s car. They arrive at Zayn’s ten minutes later and knock on his door but there was no answer.

“ZAYNNNNN. OPEN UP. IT’S US,” Niall screams at the door. They wait a few seconds and still no response.

“ZAYN, IF YOU DON’T OPEN THE DOOR RIGHT NOW, I’M GONNA KNOCK IT DOWN!” Louis hollers. And they all give Louis an incredulous look, considering how tiny Louis is.

“What?” Louis asks, with a confused look on his face, before the door opens and Zayn pops his head out. But before he can say anything, Louis shoves past him and into his flat and the rest of the boys follow suit.

“What is going on?? Why are you all here?” Zayn questions, with an alarmed look on his face, as he shuts the door behind him.

“Why haven’t you been answering my texts?” Liam demands, visibly upset. They all gather around Zayn’s living room.

“I shut my phone off the minute the meeting was over. I didn’t want to speak to anyone and I didn’t want to be around when the news got out,” Zayn explained slowly.

“Are you going to tell us what really happened?” Louis pipes in, getting to the point right away.

“What do you mean?” Zayn responds, avoiding eye contact. And they all give him a look and he sighs defeatedly, before he opens his mouth again.

“Everyone sit down first,” Zayn gestures, as the boys each take a seat on the sofas. “If I didn’t leave, they were going to make you leave,” Zayn voices softly and looks up to meet Louis’s eyes.

“What?” Harry, Liam, and Niall exclaimed, in unison, while Louis sat there with his mouth agape. Louis wasn’t sure what to say. What could he say?

“What— what do you mean?” Louis asks, shakily.

“I accidentally walked in on management discussing the plan. They think you are the weakest link. They thought the fans would make a big deal out of you leaving, but it would only last a few days and then everyone would forget about you. And I couldn’t let that happen. You have always been the leader, the person who kept us in check and kept us on our toes. I couldn’t let them do that to you. So, I offered myself to them. I told them it would be better if I left. I am known as the mysterious one anyways and you all noticed I have been miserable lately and I’m sure the fans have noticed as well, so me leaving didn’t come as much of a surprise. If they forced you to leave, the rest of us would have been screwed,” Zayn sighs.

“Woah, wait what? We were thinking the worst until now. We thought you wanted to leave and you were looking for a way out. I can’t believe this,” Niall responds, obviously shocked.

“So, you never wanted to leave? This was all management’s doing??” Liam asks, with a hopeful look in his eyes. Zayn nods.

“You know I love you all like you were actually my brothers. I would never do that to you guys. I just didn’t know how to tell you boys. And I wanted to protect Louis from the truth,” Zayn responds, quietly.

Louis was speechless. Louis always knew what management thought, which is why him and Niall always received the least number of solos in the band. Management thought they weren’t good enough compared to Liam, Harry, and Zayn. From the start, they have tried to push Harry as the front man. From the start, they tried to push the image of Harry being a womanizer. There was no doubt that Harry would be made the Justin Timberlake of the group. He would have a solo career when One Direction breaks up and the rest of them would probably get a normal job after this or live comfortably given how successful One Direction has been. Louis would be lying if he said he didn’t feel self-conscious. He has always felt self-conscious with the way management has treated him as someone who was replaceable and he knows his voice is not as strong as everyone else’s in the group.

“Louis, please say something,” Zayn begs, and ultimately, breaks the silence.

“Zayn, I’m so sorry. You didn’t have to do that for me… They don’t think I’m good enough,” Louis whispers.

“Louis, Louis, listen to me. Don’t you dare apologize. I love you. I had to. I could never watch them force you to leave… You can’t honestly believe them. They have tried to brainwash us for years. They tried to convince you and Harry that being gay is a sin and you guys were too young to know a thing about love. They tried their damn hardest to break you two apart. They took a piece of you away when they told you that you couldn’t be flamboyant anymore because we’ll lose fans if you looked like a ‘twink’ and no one likes a ‘twink’. They tried to make us believe that everything they were telling us and doing for us— all the stunts, were in our best interest. But we’re all miserable and have been overworked for years. Management is just using us as pawns in this game of how they can extort the most money from us and our fans. You know how this industry works. We all do. After 5 years,” Zayn sighs, heavily.

“Louis, come here,” Zayn pulls Louis into a tight hug to try to reassure him that it was all going to be okay.

“Zayn is right, Lou. You can’t believe a thing management says. They are just money hungry,” Harry adds. Harry takes Louis’s hand in his and searches Louis’s eyes. Louis nods.

“So, what are we going to do now?” Louis asks, quietly.

“What can we even do?? This is insane. They can’t do this, can they??” Niall asks, as he jumps up.

“We signed a contract. They control our lives and our image. There is nothing we can do,” Zayn sighs.

“There must be something. We should look through our contracts again and look for a loophole,” Liam pipes in, always the sensible one.

“I have tried. Believe me, I have tried. But there is nothing we can do,” Zayn sighs.

“So what?? We’re just going to do nothing and let it play out? I can’t do this. I’ll miss you too much,” Niall cries, as he throws himself onto Zayn and throws his arms around him.

“You know I’m going to miss you lot too. But this just has to happen, there is no getting out of it. We have to wait out our contract,” Zayn says, as he rubs Niall’s back. Zayn can’t lie. He has an unsurmountable amount of fear for what’s to come next.

“Come on, let’s all bring it in. We will survive this. One Direction isn’t One Direction without Zayn. In 5 years, One Direction will come back. We’ll all come back together. 5 years,” Harry says, with confidence.

“5 years,” Zayn nods and confirms, and they all go in for a group hug. They all hug each other, like it would be the last time.


	2. Chapter 2

_**5 years later~** _

  
“Curly, are you ready to go?? We’re going to be late. Paul is already outside waiting,” Louis yells out from the living room.

“Just about,” Harry yells back. It’s been 5 years. 5 years since Zayn ‘left’ the band. It’s been hard on all of them. They continued to go on as a foursome, but they don’t call themselves ‘One Direction’ anymore. They are just ‘Louis, Harry, Liam, and Niall’. They aren’t One Direction without Zayn. They still talk to Zayn every once in a while, but it’s hard when Zayn is out touring as well, and they are on different schedules. But they talk as much as they can. Their contracts ended last night and they have their last show in a bit.

Harry comes into the room hopping on one foot, trying to get his other shoe on his foot.

“I’m here. I’m ready. Let’s go,” Harry breathes out, slightly out of breath.

“Oh, good. Here I was ready to leave without you,” Louis jokes, as he places a kiss on Harry’s forehead.

“Hey!” Harry pouts.

“Let’s go, love,” Louis gives Harry a peck on the lips. They get in the car and arrive at the arena shortly after. It was just them running late so they had to rush to the dressing rooms to get ready. Liam and Niall had already arrived and were seated on the sofas waiting for them when they got there.

“Hey guys! Sorry we’re late!” Harry rushes out, as him and Louis are pushed into their makeup chairs and changing their clothes simultaneously.

“It’s fine. We haven’t been here for too long. We just got here about 20 minutes ago,” Liam replies.

“Are you boys ready for tonight? The last show,” Louis asks, excitedly.

“Yessssssssss!” All the boys responded in unison and Harry does a little fist pump to the air.

“Our first break in 10 years! I’m pumped!” Niall says, reciprocating the same amount of excitement as Louis. They all persevered despite the hardships and everything that has been thrown at them. It was something to be celebrated. They survived the industry. And now they were free.

“5 minutes! Let’s go, boys!” Paul informs them, as he pops his head into the room. They all get up and make their way out of the room and to the stage. They are all buzzing for what is to come. They all look at each other and smile knowingly.

And soon enough, they run out and the screams from the crowd grow louder.

“HELLOOOO LONDON!!!!!!!!!! HOW ARE YOU ALL DOING?” Liam shouts into the microphone and the whole crowd cheers.

“This is going to be a very special night. As you all know, this is going to be our last show for a while. We are going to take a well-deserved break. We have been working nonstop for the last 10 years. And we are so grateful for all your love and support,” Harry says, as he beams at the crowd.

“A massive, massive thank you to you guys. For your continued love and support. This was all possible because of you. We would not be here and living out our dreams without you guys,” Louis continues, with a big smile on his face.

“So, with that being said, we have a big surprise for you all. Can someone bring out the surprise, please?” Niall inputs excitedly and claps his hands. And they can see some confused looks in the crowd. No one had a clue of what was going on. And then… if they thought the crowd was loud before, it was a thousand times worse now.

Because Zayn had just walked out on stage.

“VAS HAPPENIN’???” Zayn calls out, using his infamous catchphrase from the X-Factor days, and the crowd goes absolutely mental. The rest of the boys run to Zayn and embrace him in a tight group hug. During the last 5 years, Zayn has gone solo and has released two albums and he’s been doing great.

“We’ve missed you so much— I’ve missed you lots,” They all utter at once, and they forget about the crowd. This was the moment they have been waiting for, for the past 5 years. They made it. They survived these past 10 years and they were free. They made it.

Then somehow the boys started slipping. They were pretty sure it was Niall who slipped first. And they all started falling on top of each other and the whole crowd broke up in laughter and the boys, as well.

“So, we’re back. One Direction is back. And we have one more surprise for you guys later. But for now, how about you listen to us sing for a bit?” Liam jokes.

They end up singing some songs from ‘Made in the A.M.’ with Zayn singing lines that were meant for him— before he ‘left’.

• Hey Angel 🎵  
• Drag Me Down 🎵  
• Perfect 🎵  
• What A Feeling 🎵  
• Love You Goodbye 🎵  
• A.M. 🎵

“Alright, so this was how the songs from ‘Made in the A.M.’ would have sounded with me in them. And yes, I helped write this album, as well. So, I should get some credits. I should take these guys to court, huh?” Zayn jokes and chuckles.

“Haha, very funny,” Louis rolls his eyes and smiles.

“Okay, the next song is for Zayn. Not even the Gods above could separate the five of us. Zayn, you are our brother and we love you. We will always have this unbreakable bond. We’ve been going through this calamity since we were 16-18 and we made it. Together. So, this is for us and our unbreakable bond. This is forever,” Harry says, with no doubt in his voice. And the whole crowd awes.

“God, you’re so cheesy,” Zayn rolls his eyes. And if anyone sees a tear drop from Zayn’s eyes, they are lying.

• You and I 🎵

_“You and I, we don't wanna be like them_  
_We can make it 'til the end_  
_Nothing can come between you and I_  
_Not even the Gods above_  
_Can separate the two of us_  
_No, nothing can come between you and I_  
_Oh, you and I…”_

And they have a quick check-in on stage before they continue with the rest of their setlist. They even have the couch from the UAN tour on stage.

“How are we all feeling?” Liam asks, looking around at everyone’s faces.

“I’m absolutely buzzing,” Niall replies, cheesing so hard that it looks like his smile might break his face.

“Me as well. I think this might be one of the best nights of me life,” Louis replies, looking around the arena in awe.

“How are you all doing??” Harry asks, facing the crowd and they all start cheering.

“That’s great, I’m glad to hear that you are all doing great,” Harry responds, cheekily.

“Now, we are going to play a few more songs before we have another surprise for you. Here’s Girl Almighty,” Niall informs the crowd and they go wild once again.

• Girl Almighty 🎵  
• No Control 🎵  
• Clouds 🎵  
• Strong 🎵  
• 18 🎵

During ‘18’, Louis and Harry made it even more obvious than ever that they were singing to one another. Harry even sang ‘16’ instead of ‘18’. They were never intentionally doing it before. Their eyes just always wandered to one another and the crowd always caught wind of that. They have watched YouTube videos of them singing ‘18’ live and it was quite obvious that they were singing to one another. Even a blind man could see how in love they were.

“All right, are you guys having a good night??” Zayn asks and that ensues more applause from the crowd.

“We have something planned next that is very personal and special to all of us. So please, be kind and try to understand,” Liam pleads with the crowd and the crowd calms down a bit before getting rowdy again.

“We’ll take that as a yes. Thank you, guys, for your continuous love and support. We love you more than you’ll ever know. Here’s ‘They Don’t Know About Us’,” Louis speaks into the microphone, nervously. They had never played this song live before. It was a song so special to him and Harry.

• They Don’t Know About Us 🎵

Liam starts off the song and when it was Harry’s turn to start singing, Harry walks to Louis and looks him in the eyes and starts singing,

_“'Cause this love is only getting stronger_  
_So I don’t wanna wait any longer_  
_I just wanna tell the world that you're mine **boy** ,_  
_Oh…”_

As soon as Harry changes the lyric, you could not even begin to imagine how loud the crowd got at this point. It is beyond deafening.

Harry and Louis sing the next lines together, as a duet, while looking each other in the eyes.  


_“They don’t know about the things we do_  
_They don’t know about the I love you’s_  
_But I bet you if they only knew_  
_They would just be jealous of us…”_

They finish the song and the crowd is absolutely mental at this point.

“So now you guys know. We have had to hide this for the past 10 years and we are done hiding. Thank you for supporting us and our friendship for the past 10 years. We have been watching and we all know Larry shippers have gotten mad shit over the years. So, here’s to you guys, and here’s to the rest of the fans that will continue to support us,” Louis says to the crowd.

“We appreciate your continued support for all these years. And now, we’re finally out and free. And I can finally say, I have loved Louis William Tomlinson since I was 16. And almost all of the songs I’ve written for One Direction, were all for Louis,” Harry adds on and the crowd awes.

“Aww, you guys are so cute,” Niall pitches, as he wipes a tear from his eye.

“Niall, you goof. You ruined the moment,” Zayn elbows Niall in the side.

“Hey! Ow,” Niall pouts.

“All right, all right, guys. Here’s two songs that these lovebirds wrote for one another that basically go hand in hand together,” Liam says, to settle those two down.

• If I Could Fly 🎵  
• Home 🎵

They had never played ‘Home’ live before. It is such a special song to Louis.  


_“So many nights I thought it over_  
_Told myself I kind of liked her_  
_But there was something missing in her eyes…”_

Louis had a hard time coming to terms that he wasn’t straight. He has dated girls in the past and was never interested in guys. Until he met Harry. He had a girlfriend at the time but every time he looked at her, he realized that there was something missing. She wasn’t what he wanted. Her eyes were the wrong color. Her eyes weren’t this burning emerald green. Her hair was the wrong shade and the wrong texture. Her smile wasn’t cheeky like the one he has come to love so much.

_“I was stumbling, looking in the dark_  
_With an empty heart_  
_But you say you feel the same_  
_Could we ever be enough?_  
_Baby we could be enough…”_

Louis was lost for a while. It was hard coming to terms with his sexuality. He thought they were best friends but the way he felt about Harry— it was more than that. They were soulmates. From the moment that he had met him. And he prayed that Harry felt the same way. He felt this connection with Harry that he had never felt with anyone else before. He remembers seeing Harry and the whole world just stopped and it was just Harry. It was Harry from that moment and it will always be him. I mean, how do you deal with these emotions when you’re 18? Sure, you’re legally an adult, but just barely. How do you meet your soulmate at 16 and 18? What do you even do? The thing was Harry made it easy. He made it easy to love him. Because how could one not love Harry? He is the kindest and most cheeky and lovable person ever. It’s impossible not to fall in love with everything that he is. With all the pressure from management, there were several times when they wondered if they were enough. They always made it back to one another. That’s how they knew. They would always be enough. Because this was it for them. There is no one else in this world that is more suited for one of them than the other.

_“And it's alright_  
_Calling out for somebody to hold tonight_  
_When you're lost, I'll find the way_  
_I'll be your light_  
_You'll never feel like you're alone…”_

Louis and Harry will always be each other’s homes. Home is just a place, until you fall in love. Home is more than just four walls and a roof. For Louis, home is wherever the emerald green eyes and curly brown hair leads him. He would follow Harry anywhere. He would always be Harry’s person, someone who will always hold him and care for him more than anything. He would help him through the dark and through the ends of the world. Louis has never felt more whole in his life than this moment right here. He is finally done hiding and he is out and proud. He can shout his love for Harry for the world to hear. He can finally scream it from the rooftops. He can finally kiss Harry on any dance floor, even though he’s a complete nightmare to dance with. But it’s Harry. And he’d do anything for him. It’s no longer a lonely shadow dance anymore.

Louis turns to smile at Harry, just to find him already looking at him, and smiling with such love and fond in his eyes. How did he get so lucky?

“Okay, guys. Home is such a special song to me. It was written by Liam and I, and I’m so glad we got to share it with you guys,” Louis says to the crowd.

“I absolutely adored writing this song with Louis. Minus the part where Louis was talking about Harry’s eyes the whole time,” Liam jokes and Louis whacks Liam on the arm.

“Ouch. Anyways the night is almost over. So, here’s a few more songs and once again, thank you so much for your support,” Liam says before running away from Louis because during this time, Louis had managed to get his hands on a bucket of water.

They decided to end the night with some staple songs.

• Best Song Ever 🎵  
• Forever Young 🎵  
• What Makes You Beautiful 🎵

By the end of ‘What Makes You Beautiful’, Liam and Louis were both soaking wet from head to toe.

“I feel like a broken record up here. But thank you all so very much. We appreciate you more than you will ever know,” Liam says, looking out at the crowd.

“You have all been incredible tonight. We have the best fans in the world and this will not be the last you will see of One Direction. We will be taking a well-deserved break, but we will come back stronger than ever,” Niall inputs.

“This was all for you guys— the fans. It is always for you. Your support has been incredible and you are the only reasons we are here today. You gave us the strength to keep going and live out our dreams. You got us to this point where we can be free. You believed in us and our love. It means more to me than you will ever know so thank you, from the bottom of my heart,” Louis adds, getting quite emotional.

“This last song is for you guys. Always for you guys. Please don’t forget about us. You will always have a home with us. We love you,” Zayn says, emotionally.

“Please, please treat one another with kindness. Be kind. We will never forget about you so, please don’t forget about us. We love you. Don’t forget where you belong,” Harry says, a bit teary eyed.

• Don’t Forget Where You Belong 🎵

_“Don't forget where you belong, home_  
_Don't forget where you belong (don't forget it), home_  
_If you ever feel alone, don't_  
_You were never on your own (you were never)_  
_And the proof is in this song…”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This may or may not be the last chapter. I'm thinking thoughts.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter :)


End file.
